Records in Collection

Many wild pollinator species, including monarch butterflies and some bumble bee species, are in decline. Rangelands are essential to the conservation of pollinators, but land managers need science-based, actionable guidance. The Xerces Society for...

The Humboldt River Basin is the largest river basin that falls entirely within the state of Nevada (16,000 square miles).� Numerous Federal, State and private entities have management and/or regulatory authority within the basin.� Due to varied...

Habitat loss is accelerating globally due to changes in land use, invasive species, and climate change.� About 4% of Earth�s flora is near threatened or already extinct according to the IUCN Red List, an in the United States, approximately 20% of...

One aspect of many habitat restoration projects that is sometimes overlooked or may be removed from restoration project activities given the current status of federal, state agency or other project proponent budgets is implementation of a...

Shortly after the introduction of livestock into sagebrush rangelands, it was recognized that sagebrush competed with forage species.� This led to many efforts to control this �weed� to increase herbaceous vegetation for livestock.� Sagebrush was...

Prediction of invasive species requires delineation of the fundamental niche and has included development of Habitat Suitability Models. Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare, synonym Cenchrus ciliaris) is a non-native invasive perennial in the arid...

Juniperus osteosperma�(Utah juniper;�syn.�J. utahensis)�has increased in upland sagebrush (Artemesia spp.)�Stipa spp. and Pseudoroegneria spicata sites because of fire suppression since the 1970's.� This has negative impacts on the soil and...

Partner biologists work with landowners, agencies, and non-governmental organizations to help improve wildlife habitat and the sustainability of working lands. They increase the capacity of existing agencies, such as the Natural Resources...

Since in the late 20th century, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has struggled to make grazing management decisions in a timely manner. This has hampered the BLMs ability to fulfill its mission: to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity...

Soil health has been an evolving concept in agriculture yet practical and applied information for rangelands are lacking.� Moreover, how soil health indicators relate to forage and grazing capacity in harsh and environmentally restricted rangelands...

Conversion of rangeland to housing and irrigated crops continues to be a concern in the Southwest. This study was devoted to understanding dramatic differences in land use/land cover in the US-Mexico border region along northwestern Chihuahua and...

Seed transfer guidelines are tools that help ensure that seed used in reforestation and restoration is "genetically appropriate" � adapted to local environmental conditions and reproductively compatible with remnant local populations....

Medusahead is an unpalatable, aggressive annual that has been invading and degrading western rangelands. This characteristic has negative effects on plant diversity and ecosystem function, promoting the creation of homogeneous landscapes. The costs...

North Coast Semaphore Grass (Pleuropogon hooverianus) is a threatened species in riparian areas embedded within California�s north coast rangelands. P. hooverianus riparian habitat is commonly encroached upon by Phalaris aquatica, a highly...

In the Great Basin, native annual plants occupy a niche similar to the niche exploited by invasive annuals, increasing in abundance after soil disturbances and wildlife. In arid systems, some native annual species have been shown to compete...

Past critiques of conservation easements have focused on the nature of perpetuity, enforcement limitations, and lack of easement flexibility and conservation effectiveness (Korngold 2009; Owley 2011).� I argue that easements especially an exacted...

As the size and severity of wildfires across the Western United States has increased, the cost and magnitude of post-fire restoration efforts has increased as well. The Department of the Interior (DOI) spends roughly 2% of its Wildland Fire...

The Taylor ranch, of Edgar, Montana, has followed a 7 pasture deferred-rest rotation grazing system for�21 years. The change on the landscape has been remarkable. One example is in June of 2011 where Cottonwood creek, which runs through the ranch,...

Lawsuits initiated by environmental groups that oppose grazing on public lands can be problematic for federal agencies. Information on lawsuits between federal land management agencies (Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Forest Service and Fish and...

Native plants and seeds are increasingly sought after by federal, state, and private land managers in Nevada and on rangelands throughout the intermountain west. Native plant materials are believed to increase the likelihood that restoration and...

Controlled burning timed in early summer can dramatically change the species composition of annual rangeland the following season.� Although this has been well documented, the longevity of these shifts has not.� Presented is a case study of a single...

Lessons learned from restoration projects that we observe over time are numerous. �A few that rank at the top include: (1) Promises made about the future success of new restoration projects can be short sited and lead to false expectations. (2) We...

Much of the Southern Great Plains (USA) grasslands have become dominated by native invasive woody plants such as honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) in the last 100 years.� Mesquite has increased due to enhanced seed...

Nutrient inputs are commonly modeled at the pasture level as if cattle dung and urine deposition were spatially uniform.� However, nutrient return by cattle on grazinglands is patchy and is influenced by a variety of factors, including variation...

The armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early 2016 is the latest encounter in a long history of conflict surrounding the federally managed lands in the Intermountain west region of the United States. The standoff appeals to a...

The southeastern U.S. is not known as a major grassland region. Its grasslands largely disappeared two centuries ago. Today�s remnant savannas, prairies, glades, barrens, balds, and wet grasslands (bogs, fens, meadows, marshes) are vestiges of a...

Wind erosion is a major resource concern for rangeland managers. Although wind erosion is a naturally occurring process in many drylands, land use activities, and land management in particular, can accelerate wind-driven soil loss � impacting...

Sagebrush ecosystems and the species that depend upon them are at risk due to a suite of persistent ecosystem and anthropogenic threats, and managers and policy makers are seeking strategic, multiscale approaches for species conservation and...

Land management and vegetation community have significant impacts on the effectiveness of precipitation.� We have monitored rainfall/runoff on three small watersheds in the Blackland Prairie region of Texas for the past 5 years.� Each watershed...

�Better Seed Through Genetic Preservation,� has been the motto for our firm from the start. We have Shifted our focus from an agronomic paradigm to an ecological one which has created success on a scale in restoration projects never experienced....

Scientific advancement in plant genetics is revealing diversity within species across their geographic distribution.� There is consensus between scientists and the federal land agencies that this diversity should be taken into account when choosing...

Large-scale dryland reclamation is arguably one of the most difficult undertakings in restoration ecology.� This assertion compounds when restoration goals are established using socio-political deadlines with little to no consideration of edaphic...

Drought is a normal experience for rangelands of the United States and poses one of the primary risks faced by managers and producers. Drought planning is therefore an important tool for minimizing drought-related losses, for both managers, planners...

Abstract: The Managing Species at Risk - Policies and Tools workshop was sponsored by Environment and Climate Change Canada to discuss current knowledge and management of species at risk (SAR) on the Canadian Prairies. The workshop focused on two...

Native plant species are not generally known to be weeds. Many even question whether native species can be invasive in the full extent of the definition. However, there are many native species in rangeland ecosystems that decrease habitat...

As catastrophic wildfires continue to increase in size and frequency across the American West, fuels and vegetation management projects are quickly becoming first priority for BLM and other land management agencies. Science based monitoring of...

Over 350 vertebrate species rely on sagebrush ecosystems for their existence within all or portions of their lifespans. The sagebrush ecosystem faces two types of threats � persistent ecosystem threats, those that are difficult to regulate and are...

Recurrent drought is a defining feature of rangelands. How ranchers cope with drought is an important issue. In 2010 a mail and telephone survey was conducted across Utah that involved 509 randomly selected cattle ranchers. One goal of this work was...

Agriculture has removed over 50% of Washington's shrub-steppe. Much of the remaining shrub-steppe is degraded and fragmented; less than 1% is protected in an ecological condition similar to historic or reference condition.� Furthermore, the...

Recovery of production after a wildfire event is essential for maintaining goods and services such as providing forage on a sustainable basis.� Often general rules of thumb, such as waiting two years after a fire to return to pre-fire grazing...

Founded in 2011, The SER Great Basin Chapter is dedicated to fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among practitioners, researchers, students, policy makers and the general public to promote the science and application of restoration...

Many species depend on water availability in low-order, headwater streams, which constitute the majority of streams in the Great Basin. Though these streams are important for a variety of reasons, we know very little about their current status (i.e...

The importance of rangeland basically comes from its environmental, economic and social importance. The secession of Sudan into two countries has remarkably reduced rangelands areas and shortened mobility of livestock, while arid and semi-arid lands...

Semi-arid woodlands have expanded and contracted across the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene.� Large scale expansions typically occurred during mild-moist climate conditions and contractions during the...

On the western slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental of southeastern Sonora, Mexico, a 928 square kilometer conservation easement protects large stands of primary and secondary tropical deciduous forest (TDF).� Within this area, people sustain...

Livestock management systems are becoming an increasing focus of attention in scientific study. An area of study that has not been heavily investigated is the social dimension of grazing management. Why do some livestock producers choose one form of...

Large, frequent wildfires are becoming more common in the Intermountain West.� Exotic annual grass dominance is a serious threat across the sagebrush ecosystem, particularly in hotter and drier plant communities.� Clearly, fuel management is needed...